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After compiling one of the greatest careers in college football history, Reggie Bush struggled with injuries at the next level. While injuries will never be entirely removed from the game, Bush believes they would be mitigated if NFL owners agreed to eliminate field turf.
Nearly a decade after his retirement, Bush still finds himself worrying about the hundreds of athletes who put their bodies on the field every week. The 40-year-old believes field turf is “one of the most dangerous surfaces” to play on, but continues to get used because it is the “cheapest” solution, he said in an interview with GQ.
“One thing I think they need to get rid of that’s still out there is field turf,” Bush said. “When we look at the studies and the correlation between field turf and ACLs, PCLs, meniscuses, just about all leg injuries, a lot of it is traced back to the surface that you play on. They’re playing on one of the most dangerous surfaces. We don’t see soccer played on field turf. In Europe, they would never allow that… Unfortunately, NFL owners still believe that turf is the cheapest, most cost-effective way in a league that annualizes billions every year.”
Bush conducted the interview to discuss how he is still dealing with his football injuries well after retiring from the sport. He notably sued the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 for a season-ending injury he suffered on their field three years before. The judge found the Rams, who were still in St. Louis at the time of Bush’s injury, fully liable, forcing them to pay $12.5 million for an injury the running back claimed ruined the rest of his career.
Two decades after his USC career concluded, many still back Bush’s case as the best college football running back of all time. However, his 10-year career in the NFL was much less glamorous and filled with injuries, mostly to his knees.
Three years into his career, Bush suffered two season-ending injuries. He tore his PCL in 2007, only to come back and suffer meniscus and MCL injuries in 2008. Despite recovering from those issues, they would practically plague him for the rest of his career.
As a result, Bush only had three productive seasons in his career. He managed his first 1,000-yard season with the Miami Dolphins in 2o11, six years after the New Orleans Saints took him second overall in the NFL Draft. Unfortunately, by that point, most of his prime had already been stolen by his myriad knee injuries.
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